Sailing Today
The RS700 associations e-Newsletter		January 2006
RS700 Breaking News... Good luck to all of those RS700 sailors taking part in the Bloody Mary this Saturday. Don't forget the re scheduled RS Pursuit Race at Datchet Water on Saturday 21st January. Ian Nolan came 2nd overall at the 25th Grafham Grand Prix in the Catamarans and Fast Asymmetric Fleet  on the 1st January overcoming the traditional hangover! The training programme will shortly be up with information on the nationals and Europeans in the next couple of weeks.
Happy New Year... I begin by wishing you all a happy new year from the RS700 committee and all at LDC Racing Sailboats. If you missed the first edition don't worry, you can still read it by clicking here  to see what you missed. In this issue we have: The London Boat Show RS700's in Germany Club Corner - this month we take a look at Hayling Island Sailing Club Our survey say's Supercharging  your Spinnaker Systems as from the recent RS News RS700 AGM Minutes Enjoy the read. Duncan Ellis GBR907 [email protected]
The London Boat Show The London 2006 boat show is now upon us from the 6th-15th January stand number N1728. The majority of the range will be there including the new RS500 and even an RS800 suspended from the roof! If you are looking for a new RS700 there will be a Boat show deal going on, looking forward to seeing you all at the show! Don't forget the RS boat show party is on the Saturday 7th of Jan. Alex Newton-Southon RS700 Class Rep. GBR 927 Direct line. 023 80 246 334 [email protected]
RS700s in Germany In Germany we currently have 7 700s. After a very quiet period there are currently more and more people who seem to be really interested in the 700. Also the sailors who are attracted currently are more race orientated whereas the former owners tended to be leisure sailors. In Hamburg, northern Germany,  we will have 4 or 5 700s in the club from next season on. This core will hopefully attract other people to join the class. Iam sure some of the new owners will make it either to lake Garda or to the British Nationals in 2006.
In 2005 we had some Skiff-Open races – together with Int. 14s, 29ers, MPSs, Int. Canoes etc. This helps to get races together at all. Even with only a little amount of boats per class.  With the 29er as an official youth class and more and more asymetrics around, people in Germany will hopefully start to think about modern developments including Fevas, Visions, Vareos, 700s and 800s. The MPS has been quite active in Germany recently and will have their Euro Cup at Travemünde Week for the second time next year.  Apart from good racing and brillant nightlife this event is a very good advertising for a start-up-class.  We would like to invite the 700s (and also 800s) to one of the big events like Travemünde Week, Warnemünde Week or even Kiel Week (if we manage to get in). In order to do so we would need to be sure that a certain number of British sailors would be interested to come over. Why not do it like other guys from the UK. They share a container or huge trailer and fly in for not a lot of money with Ryanair or another budget airline. I can guarantee that all of you will have great fun – on the water as well as with the Apres-sailing. Christian Brandt
Club Corner Hayling Island Sailing Club Hayling is situated on a sand spit on the south-eastern corner of Hayling Island and has been in existence for over 70 years. In 2003 the new club house was completed at a cost of over £4m which, whilst it attracted lottery funding, relied on its members to donate a substantial amount towards its cost. Most of you know all of this, so I thought it might be more interesting to know what made me join Hayling and never regret my decision. In 1997 I was sailing at Datchet Sailing Club up near Heathrow. I remember Nick Peters kept on going on about Hayling and trying to persuade all of us to join. I was sailing a 600 at the time and there was a fair fleet at Hayling so I made the move.
The Sailing – moving from an Inland club to the sea teaches you about tide and Hayling has it in buckets. Situated at Chichester harbour entrance, you can get up to 4 knot tides at Springs. This is particularly relevant to the racing as it adds a complexity which can take several seasons to master. The harbour sailing area is the most challenging with the added fun of the sandbanks. Us 700s are very used to the Hayling dagger board syndrome – where it looks as if a shark has bitten chunks out of the back of the board! Having the alternative of Hayling Bay as a sailing area is a joy; the Chichester bar stops the Solent traffic from tramping over the course so you get a large area of free water even at peak season.
The Racing – There is racing on both Saturday and Sunday from March to December contributing towards the Spring, Summer and Winter series. The race management is generally of an excellent standard. In addition to this we have several events including Fed Week (350 boats fill the harbour), Family Fun week, the Tide Ride etc., In 2006 there will be a weekend every month devoted to what is called the Pennant Series. These are a series of one-off club weekends for the supported classes with class prizes for each weekend. The Fleet – there are now 35 registered 700s at Hayling. Of these we see between 10 to 20 out on a Sunday even in the Winter series. The standard ranges across the board from beginner to Nationals standard (there are probably half a dozen boats who would expect to be in the top 10 at the Nationals racing regularly). All of this makes the racing extremely exciting and one of the big attractions of the club for me. The Beaches – for those of us with families, the beaches are a major attraction. They are the only sandy beaches on Hayling Island and the grockles cannot be bothered to walk to them. In summer, most weekends are like being on holiday. For the kids there are the junior fleets in Oppies and Fevas and an excellent training programme for them. In summary, it is a beautiful location offering some of the best and most varied sailing in the UK, with a clubhouse and facilities second to none. Graham Simmonds
Our survey say's? What did we sail before the 700? Well it appears that 50% of 700 sailors came from another singlehander, of which half were RS600’s.  However, considering the whole picture, 55% of owners came from outside the RS stable so it’s not all bad news for LDC.
How long have we been sailing? A long time is the unsurprising answer with the vast majority of us having put in about 20 years on the water.  The lowest experience level was 8 yrs and the greatest 56.  Hat’s off to Peter Halliwell for this Corinthian achievement! There is a really even spread of experience in sailing the 700 but about 2/3rds of people are in their first or second seasons in the class. Where do we sail? Hayling remains at the top of the table but Queen Mary is growing rapidly with 20 boats.  Then there are a number of smaller fleets with 4-5 active boats such as Chew Valley,Eastbourne, and Hunstanton. However, 40% of 700’s are sailed at clubs with only 1 or 2 boats. And 60% of 700’s are sailed on the Sea
Supercharging  your Spinnaker Systems The Pump system on the 700 is one of the boats defining features, allowing you to hoist and drop the spinnaker whilst maintaining control of your boat.  While this fits in perfectly with the class concept of an ‘achievable challenge’, there are some areas which benefit from a bit of care or some simple class-legal upgrades to smooth things along.  Here is our simple guide to achieving the ‘perfect pump’.
Avoiding the ‘F’ word While the standard system works as delivered, there is a downside, the dreaded ‘F’ word, friction.  The additional pulleys and tensioning system introduce some friction which, if left unchecked, can slow the hoist and drop process, increase wear and tear on the kite and just makes things hard work.  The obvious first thing to do in order to improve the situation is to ensure everything is well covered with spray lubricant such as Holt’s Pro Lube or MacLube.  Make sure you cover the following areas: All blocks – including the one up the mast Spinnaker chute mouth Bowsprit This alone will make a significant difference at very little cost.  However if you are willing to invest some money, you can look at replacing some of the standard equipment with lower friction alternatives: Adopt  larger diameter, lower friction blocks from your favourite supplier Replace the entire halyard with a small diameter spectra/dyneema cord of about 2.5 to 3mm diameter.
Hot-tip – if you go for a smaller diameter halyard, make it thicker where the halyard cleats off to avoid any slippage through the cleat.  This can be done by either whipping/stitching a piece of outer cover onto the halyard for about 30cm around the cleating point.  This has the advantage that it can be replaced as it wears!  Alternatively, using a splicing fid, you can pass another length of rope up the central core to create a very professional finish. Pimp your Pump Handles The last thing you want when you go to hoist or drop the kite, is to find the pump handle wrapped around itself leaving the halyard twisted and effectively locked or the mainsheet tied in a neat double bowline around the handle.  Unfortunately this can happen with the standard system where the handles simply lay on the floor when not in use.  This is the one area where almost everyone has made a change to their boat in one way or another.  Two of the most common systems are shown here. In the first, holes are drilled through one end of each of the pump handles and small shackles are attached.  A piece of elastic is then attached to one kite block, passed through the two handles and then tied off under light tension on the other kite block.
This can leave the area around the mainsheet cleat somewhat busy so an alternative solution is to replace the pump handles with tubes of alloy or carbon.  Drill a hole in each of the gunwales, pass the elastic from one gunwale, through the handles and tie it off on the other side.  Job done! Hot-tip – if you adopt the tubular handle, make sure the edges are smooth by either rubbing down the carbon tube or lightly using a hammer to roll over the edges of the alloy.
Turbo your take-up I think it is fair to say that the standard system is operating at the limit of it’s capabilities.  There needs to be enough tension in the system when hoisting and dropping to ensure that the slack is taken up quickly after each pump. But at the same time the systems needs sufficient throw such that when the tension is released, the block travels far enough to deliver adequate slack in the downhaul.  The answer to these problems is simply to increase the number of purchases from the 2.5:1 which is delivered.
You can make a very simple upgrade to a 3:1 system, by tying the elastic through the forward block using a bowline.  You may need  to replace the elastic with a slightly longer piece to ensure there is enough slack when the tension is released.
You may find this sufficient to get things working well.  However a more significant  improvement can be achieved by adopting  a 4.5:1 system.  For this you need to replace the forward floating block with a double, and fix an additional small block in line with the existing block at the stern.
UnKlump your Kite The standard system is such that the two downhaul patches pass down the chute at the same time.  This can create congestion, particularly if things haven’t gone smoothly and the kite has gathered round this clump. By the simple addition of a small plastic ball and a knot, the patches can be staggered by about 10 cm, which eases the kite into and out of the sock.  Simply pass the downhaul through the lower ring, through a small stopper ball and then tie a knot about 15cm from the end.  Finally tie off the downhaul with a bowline on the upper patch.
The Small Print While the 700 remains a strict one design, the association has specified in the rules, a number of areas where changes can be made.  These are specified in detail within the class rules which can be found on the association website under the rules/docs section. http://www.rs-association.com/index.asp?fleet=RS700&selection=forms If you are thinking of making a change to your boat but are not clear whether it is legal or not, please feel free to discuss your idea with the Class Committee before you do anything drastic. You can always contact us either via the yahoo group or directly on [email protected].  You never know, even if it isn’t allowed currently, if the concept is good enough and enough members are willing to support it, there is a process which we can follow to have your idea incorporated into the rules. Good Sailing Ian Nolan RS700 – The Achievable Challenge
RS700 AGM  RUTLAND WATER 15/16th OCTOBER 2005 Minutes/Action points Apologies. Graham Simmons, Andy White, Jerry Wales. Introduced Committee Members and their roles Jon Heissig-  Event Coordinator Andy White- Training. Jerry Wales-  Rules Duncan Ellis- Web site Ian Nolan- Communications Graham Simmons- membership (since Resigned) Alex Newton-Southon RS Rep/RS liaison The meeting discussed and made suggestions in a number of areas: European Championship. Aim to improve Class Identity by Class evenings, Class T-shirts and re-naming it European championships rather than Euro Cup. Possibility of lending boats to Top sailors for example Paul Brotherton, Mark Rushall, Andy Rice. Then doing write up for Y&Y etc. Raising profile. Investigate separate courses to avoid clashes with other fleets. Investigate professional training before the event. Investigate other French European event either for later part of 2006 or 2007 New European championship event for 2007 Travamunder week, Wannemunde week.  Quiberion, Carnac? Arrange French Nationals for us to support.  National Championships and current thinking. Problem of Provisional Mounts Bay event in August. Too close to European championships Too near to bank holiday Distance from major fleets Other suggested venues. Eastbourne Highcliffe Portland Hayling One suggestion was to do a three-year cycle. e.g. Hayling,   another south coast venue like Torquay More remote venue such as Mounts Bay / Abersoch After a long discussion a four day championships over a weekend was favoured. Suggested that the buddy system should be throughout the year, to encourage people to turn up and improve. Prizes for buddy’s who have achieved the best at the championships or over circuit and keep it continuously updated. Provisional 2006 Circuit 8 events throughout the year all for the circuit.  (including Winters, Nationals Inlands) with 5 – 8 to count overall but must include two of the three championship events. A high point scoring system to encourage greater attendance (12 boats compete, 1st place 12 pts, 2nd 11pts. Etc) Suggested that non-membership sailors could do one event a year before coming a member of the association as a taster. Suggested one-day entree for weekend opens for people just wanting to take part, mostly thinking of home boats that cannot do the whole weekend We should publicise the contribution our sponsors make in terms of prizes etc. Training Suggested that we do professional training at big events such the nationals and Europeans.
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